Keyless clock



A. L. SQHM. KEYLESS CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 18, 19W.

Patented June 6, 1922" 2sHiEETS-SHEET 27%06766277' i iwifl. 605776 A. L. SOHM.

KEYLESS CLOCK.

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18, 1919,

Patented June 6, 1922 2 SHEETS -SHEET 2.

cient means for thoroughly clean 1 mar Jmmmm IAISAWK,

Specification of Letters Fatent.

Patented June h, 1922.

Application filed fieptember 18, 191$. Serial Ito. 324,535.

To all w homz't may concern:

Be it known that l, ALFRED L. Sonar, a citizen of theUnited States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Keyless. Clocks, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to keyless clocks and particularly to electrically wound clocks and covers several new features of construction, arrangement and operation.

In electrically self-winding clocks electromagnet mechanism is provided and its circuit periodically closed by contacts operated by the clock mechanism, the electrdmagnet mechanism operating the wind-up mechanism. l have found that in order to guarantee efficient operation a clock during a long period of time, the contacts governing the electro nagnet circuit must be kept scrupulously clean. @no of the important objects of my invention is therefore to provide effi the coin tacts before they come into engagement. in accordance with my invention, not only is every cont ct cleaned but each contact is cleaned several times before engagement, and

furthermore the contact cleaning members are themselves cleaned before they enter into engagement with a contact for the purpose of cleaning. Such arrangement insures bright and clean contact surfaces.

In clocks of the class referred to a con tact lever forms one terminal of the electric circuit and a contact wheel driven by the clock work and having contact projections forms the other terminal of the circuit, and provision is usually made to disconnect or kick off the lever from the contact wheel as soon as contact is made, such kick off being usually controlled by the electro-magnet. Another important object of my invention is to provide improved kick off mechanism in the form of lever mechanism adapted to be powerfully actuated by the electro-ma'gnet armature and having sufiicient travel to as sure full disconnection of the contact lever from the contact wheel. The above arrangement permits only instantaneous contact engagement'of the contact lever and wheel, and this together with the clean, smooth contact surfaces reduces the friction or resistance to the clock movements to a minimum. This enables me to use a small finely tempered steel main spring, and a small, light spring requires less electro-magnet force for re-win'ding and consequently less current. Wists batteries are used, their life is thus greatly increased.

The above and other features of my invention are disclosed in detail in the accompanying specification taken with the accompanying drawings, in which drawings Fig. l is aside elevationa-l'view of clock mechanism,

Fig. 2 isa front elevational view plane 2--2, Fig, i,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on plane 3-3, Fig. l,

Fig. i is a diagrammatic view showing the electrical circuit, and

Figs, 5, 6, 7 and 8 show progressive positions of the contact members and cleaning mechanism.

The supporting; frame for the operating mechanism. comprises the base 10, the front and rear plates 11 and i2 and the upper members 13. dournalcd in the front a" plates is the minute arbor 14 for supper g; the minute hand 15, the hub 16 supportingthe hour hand 17 being connected through a train of gears 18 with the minute arbor. (in the arbor l lis secured the gear 19 which meshes with the pinion 20 on the center arbor 2i. Uh this arbor is secured the gear 22 which meshes with the pin ion 23 on the escapement arbor 24 which carries the escapement wheel 25 engaged by the escapement beam 26 supported on the upper arbor 27. A lug 28 extending rearwardly from the plate 12 supports the spring link 29 on which is hung the pendulum rod 30 carrying at its lowerend the pendulum weight 30, the actuating. rod 31 from being; secured to the arbor 27 and connectingat its lower end with the pendulum in the well known manner.

Securedto the minute arbor 14'. adjacent the gear 19 is' the barrel 32 containing the main spring 33, one end of this spring being secured to the barrel and the other being secured to the ratchet frame at rotatable on the arbor .adjacentthe spring barrel. The ratchet frame has the ratchet teeth .35 engaged at the opposite sides of the frame by a push-pawl lever 36 and a pull-pawl lever 37 respectively. The pawls are pivoted to a plate 38 at their lower ends, the plate being connected at its lower end with the armature 39 which is hinged at its front to the base 10. The vertical movement of the plate is; guided by means of the slot 40 which liei' 41 secured to the Springs 452 enl 48 eoiinecting between the pu-pwl levers and the plate tend to hold the peel paints in engagement With the ratchet teeth. 'lhe electroenewnet frame 14- is sugpea'tetl below the base 10 with its pole ends projecting through the base below 89. lhe enei-gizz'n receives the grooved (:0 minute ElTbQl ermet we windings w mountetl on the e ee"1'02ner'net 1 211116 are connected 1 eiteuit a insmiiei.

electi'o-ma he described i ter. .Jhen net it time is enei'gizetl the an nature will he 1. drawn downwardly toward the pole end 3 and thefphtte 38 will he chewn dewnwewilly wlth the allllfl't-lll d the pull-pawl 3? 2* E23,- tleimlly adv; (sing; the rats iet theme f5.

serihg and. epemtieg til Centaet n1 eleelz is PE'CV enerqizing 1' the l 'weund up meehe niem,

a Wartliy from the ether l-R whim s1 the Contact lGTQl. Fir 2 and 3 clearly Show the operation 01" the hick-ft lG'E'Ql, ll n the ernui-Atine is swung sml- (lly upon energizetien of the core he lever end 58 Will 1 the Contact lever will 'v 2 "Wieel teeth Above the etch l 60 1s meted at be cleaned before they engage with and clean off the next contact tooth. For cleaning the contact face of the contact 49, wiper projections e, f, g and h are provided on the wheel 65 which is adjacent the contact Wheel 46 and is secured to travel therewith but is insulated therefrom. As shown in Fig. 1 the wiper projections extend transversely over the contact wheel 46 so as to engage with the projections 63 and 64 and with the contact a9. As shown in- Fig. 4; the wiper projections are also inclined so as to present a scraping edge. The main purpose of the wiper projections is to wipe across and thoroughly scrape clean the contact face of the contact 49, but before they reach the contact theyco-operate with the latch lever I projection 63 and the projection 64- i or re a is thoroughly cleaned and brightened so when the contact tooth I) has wiped ciprocal cleanin In Figs. 5 to 8 the cycle of the cleaning operation is clearly illustrated. In Fig. 5 the contact arm has just been thrown back by the kick-off mechanism,

the arm being'loclied by the'outer step 61 of the latch lever 60, the contact 49 being separated from the contact teeth a. The contact and wiper wheels rotate in the direction of the indicating arrow and as shown in Fig. 6 the wiper 5 comes into engagement with the latch lever and raises it sufiiciently to permit the contact lever to swing from the step 61 to the inner step 62in order to hold its contact $9 in the path of the wiper projection 6, this projection having had en gagement with the latch lever projection to clean this projection and to it "it be cleaned. The wiper c then travels across the projec tion (i l on the contact lever and reciprocal cleaning of the engaging surfaces takes place here, the wiper being then thoroughly cleaned before it reaches the contact its edge wipes across the contact and been further eaned by the nection 64c, electrical engagement of the tuna I the contact 49 w: l be clean and eii iiig. 8 the wiper e has just cleanctact lt ai'idthe tooth Z; is ready e gage with the projection. G l a" contact the re wiper l.- ing engagement nth the latch iei tion 63. During engagement 0 it tooth or wiper projection t" lever, the lever raised t its weight may hear agai c. projection. However the ficient to permit the contact the inner step Ei'iga tment o tooth or wiper projection with p rejection he or the contact will s ;1 the contact lever outwardly a so as per-- wit the weight lever to exert prssure between the engaging surfaces. but such outward swing is not su'liicient' to pc t the contact arm to leave the step but such justment is such that when the elec-tro-magnet is energized and the kick-oil mechanism actuated the latch [lever projection 63 will be between a contact tooth and the adjacent wiper projection, the lever being then tree to drop to bring its outer step 61 into detent engagement with the swung out contact arm, this arrangement being shown in Fig. 5. Outward swing of the contact lever is limited bythe stop 66 (Fig. 2). Thus each contact is subjected to a thorough scraping, cleaning and brightening before it engages with another contact to close the electrical circuit, and the scraping and cleaning members are themselves subjected to a cleaning process before they engage with the contacts to clean them. The friction-is thus reduced to a minimum and the dircuit quickly closed and immediately reopened by the kick-cit mechanism. The contact making engagementtherefore does not exert any apple ciable drag on the clock train and very little current is therefore consumed during a contact making engagement. This clean, friction-less contact also makes it possible to use a li hter main spring than would ordinarily be necessary for driving the clock work.

By means of a light, small and finely tempcred steel main spring I am enabled to powerfully and eificiently drive the clock movement, the incremental winding of the spring by the electro-magnet mechanism always keeping the spring suliiciently wound to operate the most efficiently. However in my arrangement there can be no over-wind ing or straining of the main spring. The adjustment is such that the'winding will tend to be just a trifle ahead of the unwind- 1 lowever. it when the electro-magnet is E zed, the main spring is close to be ing fully wound then it will resist'suiiicient movement oi? the armature to operate the Vi and ratchet Winding-up mechanism, ".iingnp will beJdelayed until tilC-lsprin" LES income-unwound sufficiently to p mitcomnlete attraction oi the ari'nal l ttraction movement of the mature he sp ing is fully wound or close then wiil resist thespring e5 suto prevent operation oi the push ratchet mechanism until the main ring become unwound a suiiicient dis- Thus s main s ing is fully proagainst l idue s while at the e time it is ertully operate the cloclr hraclret W5 securel to the base 10 overlangs armature distance to limit its upward n'iovement by the spring 4E5. To deaden the noise of impact this bracket is faced with a piece of leather. rubber or other noise absorbin material. To prevent contact of the armatnre with the pole ends, a cushion {38 ot leather or other suitable niasutdcientiy wound up to "cerial is secn" cm'ialturev L-he a rmail. e co sun rw j I lee cushion making i 1 ,r I eraieil con; wi cu' he electroanag non-inclucitive re form of coil so As CRRBgGS so :eocln'ica may made vvlthoir'; (lope: ding iri'iin the scone my invention, I dc oi; desire so he ii to the exact construe 1on arrangemen ogeraijion shown an; ciescri oech I claim as follows:

1. In an eieciri circuif; contacts for closing; saiii circuit an i means for scraping said contacts clean before tie-y engage to close the circuit,

2.111 an electrical circuit contacts for controlling" said circuit, and! scrapers for traveling over said contacts to clean them before they engage io close the circuit.

3. In combination, a stationary elecirical circuit contact, a iraveling contact for engz'agingwith the stationary contact to close the circuit, a traveling cleaning member adapted to scape across the stationary con- 'lJZICt to clean it and a scraping member in the path of the traveling contact to clean such contact, cleaning being accomplished before said contacts engage to close the cirouit.

4. The combination with an electrical ciri ciosure oclr said in.

i i m mean. saw; cnci L sho e .i iECiu of a iaizch adapted 12 oni waicily swan position, cleanin projections carried with said conliacu Win for engaging with said contact arm contact ciean conibaei before engageby of ihe conizaci teeth, and cieanino projcction on saicl latch in the paih or said teeth and associated cleaning PlOjEClLiOl'lS whereby saicl contact teeth and cleaning INFO? jections are cleaned prior to their engage ment with said arm coniaci; and whereby said. iaizch is raised to release the arm to re shore its contact in the path of said teeth.

7, In an electrically controlled cioclz, i-he combination of a clock train, a driving spring therefor, an electromagnet for controlling the winding; of said spring, a contact Wheel rotatable with the cloclr irain and having; a plurality of contact teeth thereon,

a contact arm adapted to swing toward and away from said contact wheel and having a contact point for cooperating with said contact teeth to close the circuit for said electro-magnet, a cleaning projection on said arm in advance of said contact point for engaging with said teeth to clean them before they engage said contact point, and cleaning projections traveling with said contact wheel to engage with said arm projection and contact polnt thereon to be first cleaned by'said projection and then to clean said contact point in advance of contact engagement with said point by said contact teeth. 8. In an electrically controlled clock, the combination of a clock train, a driving spring therefor, electro-magnet mechanism for controlling the winding of said spring, a contactwheel driven with said train and having a plurality of contact teeth, said wheel forming one terminal of the electromagnet circuit, an arm adapted to swing toward and away from said contact wheel and having a contact point for co-operating with said contact teeth to close the electro-magnet circuit, means, tending normally to hold said arm'with its contact point in the path of said contact teeth, a finger extending from said arm, a kick-off lever pivoted intermediate its ends, one end of said kick-off lever being in the path of the electro-magnet armature and the other end of said kickoff lever being adjacent said finger, attrac-, tion of said armature causing said kick-off lever to engage with said finger and swing the path of saidcontact teeth, and a latch for engaging with saidv arm to hold it in swung position.

9. In an electrically controlled clock, the combination of a clock train, a driving spring therefor, an electro-magnet for controlling the winding of said spring, a contact wheel driven with said train and having a plurality of contact teeth, said wheel forming one terminal of said electro-magnet circuit, a contact arm having a contact point for co-operating with said teeth to close. the electro-magnet circuit, means tending to swingand hold said arm in position to hold its contact point in the path of said teeth, a finger extending from said arm, a kick-ofi' lever pivoted near one end, the short end of said lever being in the path of the armature when attracted, the long end of said lever terminating near said finger whereby when said armature is attracted said lever will engage with the finger to swing said contact arm away from said contact'wheel teeth, and a latch for locking said contact arm in swung position, said contact teeth en: gaging with said latch lever during their travel to raise said latch lever to permit said arm to carry-its contact point back into the path of said contact teeth.

y In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 15th day of September, A. D. 1919.

ALFRED L. SOHM. 

